Tag: mom

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Mermaids, Mini Manicures, and Endless To-Dos

Posted on by Mama

I don’t know where this month is going, but it’s flying by far too quickly. Valeria’s birthday is FAST approaching and I feel like I’ve been planning forever with no progress in sight!

It’s going to be an Under the Sea/Mermaid theme and of course I will be going all out. I’ve got table clothes, hanging decorations, balloons, plates/cups, homemade craft decorations, etc. I mean you get the gist. I have to order her cake this Friday, which HOPEFULLY they can do what I want on-top of the cake. It’s going to be a very simple cake to be fair. I wonder if I should get a plan cake top and put on cake decorations myself…hmm…

Valeria was a great little helper with these, very eager. The hand print crafts are my fav….her tiny hand crab!

Sorry my mind drifted in thought there, been happening a lot lately.

Not only is Valeria the main event this weekend, but we are also pairing it with Thanksgiving, but the party is all her. Though to be honest, I probably would have skipped Thanksgiving dinner and instead had homemade pizza and appetizers. However, people still want to have a big turkey dinner, SO I will be cooking all day on Sunday. I have some baking to do on Saturday and cleaning but hopefully I can get it all done.

I’ll create a whole post for her birthday party don’t worry!

I did get my nails done for the party last weekend and when Valeria saw them, well she wanted to have her nails painted to match. I happily obliged.

Though I will have to redo the nail polish for Valeria before her birthday party. It’s the kid friendly, non-toxic and basically comes off with water. It’s amazing and highly recommend Piggy Paint if any parent is interested. Pretty quick drying as well if you do it in thinner layers. We currently have black and blue, but I’m hoping to purchase more of them for her in the future.

To chalk up my week, most of the time has been spent planning for the party this weekend and also Potty Training.

IT HAS BEGUN!

I will however do a separate post all about our potty training adventure. Let’s just say…could be worse.

I’m going to end it here because I’m cold and want to burrito myself in my blanket while re-watching the Netflix adult cartoon Haunted Hotel. I’m such a kid at heart.

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

From Morning Songs to Messy Crafts

Posted on by Mama

A lot has been going on the last…mmmm what ten days-ish. Frankly I don’t really want to dive into it, but let’s focus on something fun shall we!

Valeria is talking more and more each day, And keeping her very energetic body/brain busy is getting harder each day. She constantly wants to learn and goes from one activity to the other. We try to do a mix of physical activity, art, music and general learning.

Physical Activity: The trampoline that Anthony bought her has been well used recently thankfully and she loves doing bum-bum jumps. We were walking a lot in the summer, however we recently have had coyote sightings in our complex (we’ve seen the coyote three times – once right in front of the house). Needless to say, we haven’t really gone walking. We playing chasing games and she has big foam mats where we make her a ramp to climb and tumble on. Hopefully when she turns two, we can enroll her into a gymnastics program for toddlers.

Music: Is the usual Romanian kids songs, Italian kids song (when she is in the mood) and Finny the Shark. Also I’ve been doing songs like Patty-cake and Miss Mary Mac, etc.

Art: Is colouring or I started doing crafts with her. Right now we are doing Fall and Halloween themed crafts. I’ll post a photo down below, but she has made a cardboard owl with fake leaves, a paper/felt apple tree (Mama kinda failed that one…OOPS!), Popsicle stick Halloween characters and paper hand turkeys. The turkeys we made three of them; one for us, one for grandma and one for her Buni.

General Learning: She has flash cards for colours and shapes. Also flash cards that are question/answer. We only use the cards we think she can answer right now. We play matching games, teaching her ABCs, she can count up to five on her own already and ten with our help. She loves watching us write her name and teaching her each letter.

Extras: we get her in the kitchen to help with baking, to clean up after her messes, manners, sharing, and we read to her constantly.

I’m a little tired but I believe that’s it!

Hope you enjoyed and keep a look out for more Fall activities with Valeria!!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Just Us Girls (Until the Doorbell Rang)

Posted on by Mama

It’s been a bit since I posted about just every day life and I thought why not. Just an average day with little miss Valeria and I as daddy had to go into the office. Mama/daughter day, it was really nice.

She’s such a well behaved little girl, I can’t complain really when she has a bit of a breakdown due to exhaustion or when she wants attention. How could she want my attention still, she was stuck with me all day?! It’s sweet really that she just loves spending time with me and Anthony always.

She was having a rough night last night so I went to sleep in her room. Anthony’s alarm was going off at 5 AM to make the couple hours drive to his office, so we thought it best he gets the bedroom to himself. She was wiggly and I’m almost certain I was punched, kicked and crawled on throughout the night. Oh toddlers! To say she is an active sleeper is an understatement. She also decided it would be a wonderful idea to wake up at 7 AM after she had hardly slept. Yeaaaaaah… mama was TIRED! Eventually after calling for daddy and me explaining that it’s just us today, we crawled out of bed. Diaper change completed, teeth brushed and clothes changed – we headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

Now….breakfast was barely had. She kept say ‘toast, toast…’ followed by ‘baycan…baycan..’ which translates to bacon, just to clarify. So I made her toast with a bit of peanut butter and some bacon. If you could see my face, you would know she hardly ate – having half a bacon strip and 1/4 of the slice of toast I had made her. She just doesn’t have much of an appetite for breakfast lately.

We proceeded to play; colouring, puzzles, DuoABC lessons and we attempted The Little Mermaid but didn’t last long before she started getting cranky due to exhaustion. I had to push it until 11 AM because I knew if I didn’t, well it would mess up her whole evening sleep schedule. Thankfully, she was able to last and slept from 11:15 AM to about 1 PM. However, in that time I washed dishes, cleaned the rest of the main floor bathroom, brought up clothing that were scattered all over the house (don’t even ask…), cleaned the kitchen, cleaned up the recycling, handled some bills, made her soup and just before she woke up I attempted to start making brownies. I didn’t get a break really.

Once she was up she wanted to listen to Finny the Shark music, so I put that on for her while she played with her rocking horse. I finished up in the kitchen, dished out soup in a bowl and opted to attempt Casper the Friendly ghost. She liked it for 15 minutes before she wanted to colour and do other things. I left it on because well….it’s me and I love Casper. She also ate two massive bowls of soup. We played up until the doorbell rang at 4:30 PM.

My mother and brother decided they were going to pop by, mentioning it the night before to me on the phone. It was nice that they came over. When that doorbell rang and she saw who it was – she was shrieking with excitement. They played with her as I made dinner and well we had brownies and coffee for dessert. Anthony walked through the door just as we finished dinner and Valeria was thrilled for a second time that evening. He ate quickly and then spent time with Valeria. My brother managed to fix our coffee maker and we sat around chatting. It was some really nice quality time. They left around 7 PM, which was just in time for Valeria to go down for the night. She was getting fussy and asking for milk.

We said our goodbyes to my mom and brother followed up by diaper change, pajamas and then bottle filled. Whisked upstairs to bed for a quick book and her nightly prayers. I gave her kisses and we said our I love yous and I left the room. I watched on the camera as Anthony and Valeria both fell asleep. They both looked so peaceful.

The night ended quietly – I finished the novel I was currently reading and eventually Anthony woke up so we could watch our show. Not long after he went back to bed and here I am writing this post and watching my all time favourite Autumn show – Gilmore Girls. Every September I start it, but now I’ll watch the rest of this episode and maybe another then pass out.

So I will bid you farewell right now.

Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

A Chill Friday in Mom Mode

Posted on by Mama

I can’t sleep, my mind is racing and I thought the current novel I’m reading would put me to sleep (reading this late makes me sleepy) unfortunately did nothing to curb my brain being in high gear. So now I’m going to indulge and write freely and I’m truly not sure what is going to come out of my mouth at this hour of the night.

We had a wonderful day today, I got my nails done in the morning and when we got home, Valeria wanted to snack and watch a little television. We started to try movies with her, though she doesn’t watch them all at once, we give her a movie in intervals. I guess that’s weird, but it helps us control her screen time and frankly she gets bored of television fast in general. Half the time she’s playing or colouring while the t.v. is playing in the background. So needless to say, I’m not worried about Valeria being addicted to screens. Anyway, she had a really good morning and so this was her reward. As for the snacks, I really don’t know where she puts it, my baby can eat! It’s impressive and I truly don’t know where she puts it in that tiny body of hers. I know she burns it off because I can’t get her to sit still for a moment, she is constantly running and jumping around.

Whoever said little girls were calm and chill has not met my fearless daughter! I swear she gives me a mild panic attack at least once a day.

She went down for a nap around noon and I read for a bit before heading to my lair (c’mon that just sounds way cooler than saying my boring basement….JUST SAYIN!) to work on some of my wood burning I have on the go. I was currently working on some mug coasters that are spooky themed. I’ve now got three out of the four completed. Once they are all completed, I’ll seal them and they will be done. Woo-hoo!

This one is the one I was working on today, Valeria slept long enough for me to complete.

Once she was up, the afternoon flew by with playing, chasing her and daddy as I try to catch/scare them (a game she finds HILARIOUS), a little food/snacks, more running around, and then she got ready to head over to Grandma’s house. She was so excited to be spending the evening over there. Thankfully my mom watches her as I attend therapy, and Anthony kindly drives me the 45 minutes to my therapist’s office. But I digress, Valeria was thrilled and so were my parents and brother.

She immediately saw my mom and goes “Grandma!” and practically jumps from Anthony’s arms. Then she plays shy with my brother Marco for only a moment this time before she grabs him by the hand, shows him the bag of toys/books we brought for her and pulls out her building blocks. Clearly indicating she wanted to build with him. He kept her occupied as my mom finished cooking dinner and we sneaked out of the house.

The drive was good, traffic getting out of the city as always and therapy was really good. Touched on a heavy hitting subject for me. I may or may not post about that because I’m on the fence about divulging my personal stuff from therapy. Therapy is probably what’s keeping me up for the most part.

The drive home was good, peaceful. On these drives, Anthony and I actually get to speak freely without a toddler yelling at us. A quick stop at the store, then picked up Valeria and headed home.

Our night ended pretty relaxed and quiet. We started to teach Valeria how to pray before bed. My sister-in-law Cristina and her husband bought her a prayer book with a praying bunny stuffed animal, so we’ve been using that. She is too adorable trying to do the sign of the cross; she gets a little mixed up when she tries to do it and look at us as a reference – we participate with her. She’s talking more and more each day and she’s very curious about all the religious items we have in the house. I also gave her one of my rosary for her bed, she’s very curious about them.

Once she was asleep, Anthony and I watched a movie and then we parted ways to do our own things. I wanted to read and he wanted to get some work done on his special project. But that was pretty much the day in a nutshell.

Writing has made me a bit sleepy, so I’m going to call it here ladies and gents. I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Long Weekend Magic: Simple Fun, Sweet Memories

Posted on by Mama

Now before you all come for me, I knooooow that Summer is still in swing until September 22nd. But I’ll be real with you, once September hits, it’s Autumn for me. Plus, it’s also Labour Day weekend and the last weekend before kids return to school here in Canada. So why not embrace the last bit of summer freedom with some family fun?!

Friday was the start of our long weekend, with a quiet day spent at home for the most part. Only a few errands to run. We were suppose to head over to my parents for dinner, but we opted to push it over to Saturday so Valeria could spend more time with them.

Saturday morning was fairly mellow with our usual routine at play; breakfast, colouring, reading, a little Romanian kids music, general play and a nap to follow. In the afternoon we went over to my parents place around 3 PM. My middle brother, Marco, lives with them now and took over our old haunting grounds – the basement. Valeria was very excited to hang out down there, explore her Zio’s room and watch Bluey on his massive television.

We went for a walk around the block after we had dinner (mom cooked – YAY I didn’t have to!) and it was really nice. My stomach sadly didn’t like the food (damn teriyaki sauce!), but hey it was delicious going down. The walk helped though….and the peppermint tea. After that it was basically all of us hanging out and Valeria playing with everyone. It was nice, she didn’t want to leave. However it was WAY passed her bedtime and she was beginning to sputter cry. We knew right then and there that we only had minimal time to get her home.

Why is it that kids are like little volcanoes – quiet one moment, then erupting the next?

Regardless, we got her home in time and off to bed quickly. The rest of the evening was pretty much relaxing for the most part. I worked on a bit of my wood burning and watched some movies. Anthony was working on some things too, a passion project if you will. I’ll keep it under wraps for now, but keep an eye out in a future post! I definitely did the exaggerated wink at the end of that sentence when I typed it by the way.

Sunday was a jumbled mess….

I had to roast up 2 bushels of Sheppard Peppers, which my mom purchased at the beginning of the week and decided to give me too late. They were starting to rot AND I had also mentioned that they would be an all day process. We had to go for a picnic with the whole family that afternoon. Needless to say, the peppers ended up in the trash and I (and Anthony)….wasted a lot of time roasting them. I’m extremely annoyed but in the end they were unsafe to eat. That is the end of that story, onto the picnic.

The family picnic was great! We ended up going to a park called Pinafore Park and it was beautiful. There was so many different covered picnic areas, a splash pad, multiple playgrounds and a little amphitheater. My whole family arrived before we did, Valeria was tired and had a long nap that day. But they found this little covered picnic area behind the amphitheater and it had a little open area by the treeline for the kids to run around. Not to mention a trail entry into the forest – which just walked you either in a straight line or a circle back to the entrance. We had a wonderful picnic all together, each of us bringing something. I opted to bring my own food for fear of my darn stomach. After we all ate, we blew up a giant beach ball, we all kicked it around and were playing with it. Valeria had an absolute blast chasing that ball from one person to another. Picking it up, kicking and throwing it. I got some incredible photos of everyone. The boys were playing catch and they even got in a game of Bocce.

If you don’t know what Bocce is I’ll explain it. It’s an Italian lawn bowling game in the most simple form. Basically two teams roll larger coloured balls as close as possible to a small white target ball (it’s called a pallino) to score points. The more balls you have closest to the pallino for your team than the more points you accumulate. So you need to be strategic and try to knock the other opponents balls away from the pallino. It’s also underhand rolling or throwing. Really, reeeeally fun and if your in my family, can get competitive. Absolutely love it!

When Valeria started to get a bit restless, we opted to all pack up and walk over to the playground and swings. She was so excited and she spent the whole time pretty much just swinging away. Her favourite thing to do at the playground to be honest. Not surprising though, I was like that too as a kid. She crashed pretty fast though and by 6:30 PM, we were heading home. We had a bit of a drive, but again made it home just in time before a full on meltdown happened due to exhaustion. Let’s just say, she slept pretty good, which some tossing an turning from being exhausted.

Now for today, well that one was pretty easy. Valeria came RACING into our bedroom with daddy in toe, all while she yelled ‘Mommy, Mommy” over and over again. My eyes were closed, but I heard her making noise in her room as she played. As she stood at the side of my bed, I popped my eyes open and said “Morning baby!” She jumps up and down excited with a smile on her face and says “Morning baby.” I leaned over and picked her up, putting her in bed for morning cuddles. She was snacky this morning, but she ate a good amount for breakfast before we got her ready to head to the park and splash pad by our house.

We were there for at least 45 minutes to an hour. She played on the slide, banged on some drums and then once a swing was free….LOOK OUT. She ran to that swing so fast and stayed there for a while. A little boy was being pushed on the swing next to her and he was singing – Oh Mister Sun (which she DOES NOT like at all) and she kept saying “No….Noooo…” as Anthony and I just looked at each other and laughed. At one point, someone pressed the button in the splash pad which got her attention and she says “Apă…” and well the swing was over.

We took her over to the splash pad and she was having a ball as she watched the water at a safe distance and put her hands in only when she felt it was necessary. Then a little boy came and they started to play together, he wanted her to go and run through the water with him (which she skirted the edge of the water instead), but she kept telling the little boy “Boy….in.” It was pretty funny to be honest, but his attention span turned to his bike and the playground we had just left. We played a little longer, running along the edge of the water with Valeria before it was time to head home for a nap.

Once her nap was done, my mom called and asked if we wanted to head over to hang out and spend some time. I made dinner for everyone and we hung around playing with Valeria. The time passed quickly though because before we knew it, it was time to head home. She did not want to leave grandma’s house, but she was super exhausted when we got home.

She fell asleep fast. However, it seems like she is having a bit of a rough sleep, so I’m going to call it here. Next wake-up will be mine.

I hope you had a wonderful long week (if you had one that is) and have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

The Sweet Sound of Valeria’s Voice

Posted on by Mama

I think I have a parrot in the house…oh….wait….nope – it’s just Valeria!

She has been chatting for a while now and just recently, she has been repeating Anthony and I more and more. It’s absolutely incredible to hear and yes, she does still make up words and baby talks sometimes. However, I am finding she is becoming clearer each day and she is stringing together words to create very short sentences right now.

Though my absolute favorites are the phrases she’s picked up from Anthony and I – “Oh really?!” “Oh yeah!” “Yeah buddy” and so on! And man is she funny, like she is such a little jokester. When she says something funny or “bad”, she has this huge grin on her face and laughs, often followed by her running away with pure joy and excitement. It’s a beautiful sight to witness.

She has learned to say Happy Birthday, in her adorable baby girl voice, which sounds more like “Appy Burrthday!” Oh and she is able to answer the question “How old will you be?” “Twoo!” And she is so proud of herself when she says it too! Her birthday is coming up quickly, so it felt only right to teach her.

I love how much she is learning and so quickly that it’s absolutely astonishing. The nice thing is she seems interested in wanting to continually learn as well, which she gets from both Anthony and I. She’s got an inquisitive mind, I love it.

Anyway, that’s all for now, but look out for more tidbits from my little parrot!

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Protecting Valeria: Boundaries in a Boundaryless World

Posted on by Mama

I think I may have ranted about this before, but can someone explain to me why strangers feel it’s okay to try and play with my child, touch them or even ask to touch them? Would you approach a full grown adult and do those things? If the answer is NO, then don’t do it to someone’s child!

It happens more often then I’d like to admit and I tell people NO if they try to touch Valeria or ask to touch her. It is one thing to say a nice comment regarding my daughter, but don’t be creepy or weird toward her. I don’t need you making funny faces or repeatedly going “Hi! Hello!” in a child-like voice.

Maybe I’m just strange or over-protective in this crazy world of ours, but it’s frustrating for me as a parent. I would never just go up to someone’s child and do that, so I expect the same common courtesy and respect. Compliment or smile or both and move along.

Anthony had an instance today, while he was out with Valeria and I was at an appointment. He took her to Starbucks for daddy/daughter time and to grab her a breakfast sandwich. A man came in, who Anthony said was a bit sketchy from the moment he saw him, and proceeded to sit right across from them after he placed his order. He kept talking to Valeria in a child-like voice and attempting to play with her. Anthony gave him a “warning” stare to basically tell him to stop and go away. Apparently the man got the hint because he left shortly after.

I stand by the fact that if you wouldn’t go up to an adult and do those things, then do not treat a child any different. How have we created a world where there are no boundaries towards how you interact with a child. Boggles my brain, but I definitely have boundaries for my daughter. Are we the bad ones? Maybe, but I don’t think so.

Anyway, rant over.

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Lions, Lyrics & Lakeshore Laughs: Part One

Posted on by Mama

We’ve been trying to enjoy the summer and take advantage of the beautiful, somewhat humid, weather we’ve been having here. We had a goal to try and do as much as possible with Valeria this summer since she now is beginning to understand and can enjoy it.

We recently went to go visit some family in Wasaga Beach which was an absolute blast. We’ve been up there before and it was so wonderful and peaceful, we are hoping one day to find some property and a home as serene as that.

We left on July 31st, with a three hour drive ahead of us, I prepared for everything. Snacks packed, phone fully charged for Bluey and Duo ABC at the ready, books and even a kids music playlist. Valeria did incredible to be honest. We don’t usually take long drives often and Valeria doesn’t usually nap in the car anymore, but she handled the trip wonderfully.

We arrived mid-afternoon and were greeted with big hugs from my cousin, who’s also one of my best friends. Once settled in, Valeria quickly set off exploring the neighbourhood; alternating between running ahead, holding our hands, and stopping to inspect rocks. Until her little legs got tired and said “Daddy…” in her tiny voice and gesturing to be picked up. By the time we got back, she was ready for a nap. While she rested with Anthony, my cousin and I caught up in the kitchen. Having a professionally trained chef in the family is a gift and when I’m with her I definitely take every opportunity to be in the kitchen with her and we work well together actually. Dinner that night was duck fat roasted potatoes, salad, and roasted orange balsamic chicken. Absolutely delicious!

We had planned to go to the farmers market, but we sat around talking with her family after dinner and time got away from us. The farmers market was closed and we decided instead to go for another little walk with Valeria before she had to go to bed for the night. It was short, she played a little and than off the bed. Anthony went to sleep with her since we forgot the blow-up bed railing at home. I let Anthony know via text that my cousin and I decided to go for a very long walk and talk. It’s something we enjoy doing when we’re together and we caught up and vented about a lot. Once we headed in, we made a snack, sat on the couch and watched a bit of t.v. before the day finally caught up with me. At that point I went to bed and she got a call from her new boyfriend, so she stayed chatting with him on the couch.

The next morning we woke up, made breakfast and we had initially planned to go to the beach, but the schedule was a bit too tight. We had the concert that night, so we decided instead to stick close to home. We went for a beautiful morning walk after breakfast and a bit of playtime. Valeria kept asking to go outside, so it worked out wonderfully. And since she was up way too early, nap time came early. My cousin and I decided to grab a coffee at Starbucks, so we went into town with her brother and dad. Their errands ran a bit longer then expected, but by the time we got home, Valeria and Anthony were awake. We landed on a farmers market down the street since we were short on time. It had chickens (one of Valeria’s favourite animals) and a little store on the farm with local goods. It was very close and surprisingly it didn’t just have chickens but also a hay-bail tracker to climb on for the kiddos. It was nice and I picked up a few things: two BBQ sauces, bee pollen, tea, dried apple slices, and turkey pepperoni sticks. Valeria had fun with the chickens and a chicken had escaped and came VERY close to us, which thrilled her beyond belief. They had little food dispensers, so I got some and Valeria happily threw the food into the pens as she said “Nom nom nom” watching them eat. We had to keep her little fingers out of the fence, however she did manage to actually pet one of the chickens and she was over the moon! She squealed and wiggled after it happened, it was absolutely adorable! After that, she went on the shift hay-bail tractor, which she climbed all over. She kept giggling and going “Beep beep…Maşină!” We headed back to the house after a bit.

When we were home, my zio played with Valeria while I did my make-up for the concert and my cousin started cooking dinner. Dinner was Pasta with Alfredo and left over chicken. However, our Alfredo sauce is not done with cream but simply butter, pasta water and Parmigiano cheese. Chef’s kiss deeeeeelicious let me tell you! Once I was ready, I went into the kitchen to help her so that she could get ready for the night. We quickly ate, finished getting ready and left at 5:30 PM. I instantly missed Valeria and Anthony. I really hate being away from them. Is that normal? Anthony is honestly the best husband for allowing me to indulge in some fun, something I don’t do often.

In hindsight, I should have just drove us but we got dropped off by her brother. We could have left later, just parked and once the concert was done came home. Instead of wandering in a shady area of the city after the concert and calling a Lyft to get back home. But I digress, what’s done is done but I know for next time. We went to see Shawn Desman, a Toronto musical gem and totally nostalgic from my teen years. So we HAD to relive a little bit of our youth! He didn’t come on until 8:30 PM, but we knew every song, danced our asses off and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! The man still has a terrific voice and some impressive dance moves for a 43 year old, just sayin’! However, the concert was shorter than we had expected, but amazing nonetheless. I have video, but sadly can’t upload it, sorry folks!

As stated above, we left the concert and coyote spray in hand at the ready (since pepper spray is illegal to have here), we walked to a McDonald’s to use the rest room. However, we were unaware it was in a shady area of the city and they wouldn’t allow us to use the bathroom. We than had to walk to a Pizza Pizza. The bathroom was heinously disgusting, but we were desperate. We called the Lyft, which the driver proceeded to attempt to chat us up and hit on me. I blatantly ignored and just wanted to get home safely, which we did! Snack, unwinding on the couch before we passed out which was a nice ending to the night.

I’ll end the post here since it’s quite lengthy already, but part two incoming tomorrow!

Have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

From Crystals to Carrots: Adventures Close to Home

Posted on by Mama

As a mom—or a parent in general—life doesn’t stop just because you’re under the weather. You still need to care for that little human, cook, clean, do laundry, and tackle the never-ending list of daily and weekly tasks. My life is no exception.

Even with my throat still feeling sore and irritated, I’m “soldiering” along and keeping Valeria entertained. Thankfully, Anthony had two days off because we had planned a little trip to the water park in Hamilton and some time with his mom before heading to a family get-together on Saturday. Sadly, we had to cancel all our plans, so now we’re trying to fill Valeria’s days with local activities that are a bit closer to home.

It’s been lots of walks, rock hunts (her new obsession, probably inspired by all the crystals I have lying around the house), trips to the playground, store runs, and even a visit to a farmers market. And I have to say, I really do miss farmers markets, especially in the summer and fall. I know what you’re thinking: “You’re sick, you shouldn’t be out…” and you’re right. But I can’t stay cooped up in the house with a toddler because she goes stir-crazy just as much as I do!

I’m not sure what we’ll get up to this afternoon or even this weekend, but hopefully, whatever it is, Valeria has fun. That’s the most important thing to me is that she enjoys whatever we’re doing.

Now, I’m going to take full advantage of the fact that she’s napping and tackle a few chores around the house: laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and so on. I’m currently testing out a homemade stain remover for clothes, so fingers crossed it works!

Homemade Stain Remover:

  • 1 Part Dawn Dish Soap
  • 1 Park Baking Soda
  • 2 Parts Hydrogen Peroxide

It should form a paste, however I found mine to be a bit too watery, so I think next time I’ll cut down on the Hydrogen Peroxide.

Anyway, I hope it works, I’ve been little it sit for a bit now on some shirts, so it’s time to go and throw them in the washer.

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Posted in Health & Wellness

Making Space for Me in the Middle of Motherhood

Posted on by Mama

I’m keeping this one short and real — mostly because I’m under the weather today. Not quite curl-up-in-bed-with-tea-and-movies sick, but enough that my energy’s running on low. To make things extra fun, Valeria has been dealing with a little summer cold too. It’s been a few days of lack of appetite, fussiness, and the classic toddler mystery: something is clearly wrong, but no one can say exactly what.

Honestly, sometimes I wish toddlers came with a little dashboard that just lit up with alerts: “throat sore,” “needs snuggles,” “soup only.” Wouldn’t that be helpful?

Anyway, this post isn’t about colds or wishful toddler tech. Today’s more of a real talk moment.

This year has been a bit of a roller-coaster. Emotionally and physically, I’ve been feeling stuck. I’ve been trying to push through, doing the right things — moving my body, eating well, keeping routines — but I hit a wall. So, after some serious reflection (and a lot of Google searches), I’ve decided to start therapy.

I recently had a consultation with a therapist I really clicked with. I searched for someone with the exact areas of focus I felt I needed, and it paid off. She was warm, easy to talk to, and felt like a safe space from the first few minutes. I know, I know — that’s kind of what therapists do. But sometimes, you just get a good gut feeling about a person, and this felt right. My first official session is on July 29th — wish me luck!

I truly believe that our mental and physical health are tightly connected. While I’ve been doing everything “right” on paper — lifting weights again, walking daily, sticking to a calorie deficit — I’m still not seeing much change in my weight. It’s frustrating. And to be honest, I slipped today and binged a bit. I haven’t done that in a long time. I don’t have a perfect explanation for it — it just happened. But instead of spiraling into guilt, I’m choosing to acknowledge it and move forward. Progress doesn’t mean perfection.

One of the biggest challenges I’m still working on is comparison. It’s too easy to look at someone else’s journey and feel like mine isn’t enough. But healing isn’t a race, and self-growth doesn’t come with a finish line. I’m learning to unlearn unhealthy habits and building health ones, slowly but surely.

So that’s where I’m at. A little bit of a sore throat, a little tired, but still trying. Therapy is a new chapter for me — one that feels necessary and overdue. I’m choosing to be proud of the small steps and gentle with the setbacks. If you’re in a similar place, just know it’s okay to pause, reassess, and ask for help. You’re allowed to be a work in progress.

Because that’s where I am and will be for a while.

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world.

Ciao!